History

Freshwater marshes, or savannas, once extended all along Florida's southeast coast. Stretching more than 10 miles from Fort Pierce to Jensen Beach, this preserve is the largest and most intact remnant of Florida's east coast savannas. 

The park preserves and protects environmentally unique and irreplaceable lands associated with the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, fresh water basin marsh and sand pine scrub ridge characteristic of the southeast Florida coast.   

During the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), Lt. Colonel Benjamin Pierce first used the term "savannah" to describe a series of ponds and marshes found here.

In 1879, Captain Thomas Richards planted the first pineapples, grown from cuttings he transported from Key West. The plants thrived in the sandy, well-drained soils and dozens of farms appeared along the Atlantic Ridge.

From 1895 to 1920, Jensen Beach was known as the Pineapple Capital of the World.

The park encompasses more than 6,000 acres of this biologically unique land acquired since 1977.